For those of us who didn't remember the California->Arizona time change and arrived to the opening reception during desert (doh!), it was catch-up time afterward at the bar with the terrific iMedia team as well as Kendall Allen, Peter Platt, Kevin Ryan and a few others sampling Ridge '07 Zin. John Durham stopped by toward the end.
On everyone's mind was how challenging a year it was, and yet there was plenty of excitement about the upcoming year (to start working on after a much needed holiday break). The Aspen Group sessions today for agency participants will be revealing.
My predictions:
1. Mobile will be at the top of everyone's list in terms of getting our arms around opportunities and best practices. No one is that excited about mini-banners, and yet the funds are going there (and Google's buying...)
2. Analytics and interpretation/recommendations will be a close second. How much is the interpretation worth, and how the heck does a brand begin to deal with its information overload will be key discussions
3. Online video will follow. With video consumption continuing to grow and more "branded" environments delivered by sites like Hulu and networks like Brightroll, this could be the year video advertising really leaps forward, particularly as banner ad delivery companies like Tremor and Tribal Fusion introduce new video ad units where banner placements might otherwise have been.
Looking forward to the brainjuice today!
